"So the idea was to combine all the things I love into something that I don't think has ever been done before. Come in, have a beer and enjoy browsing through the vinyl albums."

Enter the 2,000-square-foot building, and tucked into a corner on the left is a small bar, which has four beers on tap. Fittingly, one of the beers is Turntable Pils from Cleveland craft brewer Great Lakes Brewing Company.

Next to the bar is the Songwriter's Recording Suite, a small studio equipped with an array of moderate- to high-level guitars, a drum kit and a digital recording system.

"The idea is for someone to come in and pay an hourly rate, or pay a $49 monthly fee that guarantees a few hours," Stacy said. "When I was a kid, I didn't have access to instruments like this. My hope is this will inspire kids to come in and record."

While the recording is digital, "we do have the ability to put it on vinyl," he said.

The main part of the spacious shop, though, is meant to look and feel like an art gallery, with wood floors and rock posters all around. The posters are provided by Mike Martin, owner of Engine House 13, which produces limited-edition concert art.

In the middle of the shop are the record bins, which have traveled over the years from record store to record store — originally in a Peaches, then Record Convention, then Ace in the Hole in Upper Arlington.

"I added cupholders," Stacy said, in a nod to beer-drinking shoppers who'll eventually need two hands to paw through the records.

The 85-year-old building most recently was a used-clothing shop but started its life as a hardware store.

"We pulled up the carpet and found a wood floor. You can see stains from oil-based products that spilled when this was a hardware store."

That long history was of little help when Stacy approached the city in search of permits.

"The city didn't know what to do with me," he said. "Was it a store? Was it a bar? Figuring out how to classify it — that added time to everything. We're categorized as a mercantile space, with craft beer as an accessory. Figuring out the zoning was hard because it's never been done in Ohio before."

Stacy may find that the record business is "not that easy and a lot harder than 'the stuff my friends and I like,'" said Lee Peterson, an executive vice president at WD Partners, a Dublin retail-consulting company.

"The vinyl business in Columbus is at an all-time high now and competing with the likes of Used Kids ... is not going to be a joy."

"The same with craft brewing," Peterson said.

However, "it's a fun idea, like the harmonic convergence of trends. You couldn’t come up with a list of hipster movements and combine them any better if you tried," Peterson said.

Stacy spent a half-dozen years as a member of the digital marketing team at Nationwide, then started his own digital consulting service, Troy Stacy Digital, and has worked on several movie soundtrack albums for such films as "Blade" and "Bulworth."

But the idea behind the shop arose from regular get-togethers at his home.

"One of my favorite things to do with my friends is lay out some albums, pick an artist and play the album. Everyone brings a favorite craft beer and we just have a good time."

While Craft & Vinyl is just opening, Stacy already has various projects and plans for the shop and intends to keep customers informed via the shop's website, www.Craft-n-Vinyl.com.

For example, WLVQ-FM (96.3) plans to do a show periodically from the store, "and we're planning a Craft & Vinyl Pour & Play Experience," he said. "We're planning to have eight to 10 regional artists and eight to 10 craft beers and pair them," in the same way that restaurants hold special dinners that pair certain foods with wines that will enhance the flavor.

In the meantime, Stacy plans to focus on tapping into "the great community" around the shop.

"My research said this was the No. 1 place in the state for my audience," he said. "After being a digital consultant for so long, it felt good to have something I could get my hands on."

tferan@dispatch.com

@timferan

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